The Ben Mulroney Show - Mark Carney puts his elbows down as tariffs on the U.S. drop to 'nearly zero'

Episode Date: May 16, 2025

Guests and Topics: -Mark Carney puts his elbows down as tariffs on the U.S. drop to 'nearly zero' -Massive study shows how devastating divorce is for children and their chances of success in adulthood with Guest: Andrew Feldstein, Founder of Feldstein Family Law Group If you enjoyed the podcast, tell a friend! For more of the Ben Mulroney Show, subscribe to the podcast! https://globalnews.ca/national/program/the-ben-mulroney-show Follow Ben on Twitter/X at https://x.com/BenMulroney Enjoy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Instacart, groceries that over-deliver. Welcome back to the Ben Mulrooney Show. Thank you so much for spending a little bit of your Friday with us. I hope you've been joining us all week long. I hope you're gearing up for a great long weekend. We have a nice short week next week as well, but lots of news that really bears some attention. So there's a, we're finally getting a sense of what elbows up means for this new government. This there's it's a apparently a new strategic approach by the government. They have effectively suspended almost all of Canada's retaliatory tariffs on US products, tamping down inflation risk and improving the growth outlook of the country. That's according to Oxford economics. of the country, that's according to Oxford economics.

I thought elbows up meant like, we're gonna fight, we're gonna tussle. That's the definition of what elbows up means, right? Like get your dukes up, elbows up. And so I have to say, I was somebody who didn't really have a strong opinion. One way I could see the reason to look tough by imposing retaliatory tariffs, but I also knew that those are attacks on Canadian businesses

and Canadian consumers, and that was gonna hurt us more than it was gonna hurt anybody else. A tariff is a tax on your own people. So I kind of liked the idea that we're lessening that burden on ourselves. But we were promised elbows up. So we got to figure that out. And, you know, Mark Carney said that Pierre Poliev would capitulate to Donald Trump.

He said that he was going to bow and he was going to kiss the ring. And he was going to kneel at the king, kneel before the throne of Donald Trump. How is this any different? I struggle to see how this is proof that the right guy is in the position to shepherd us through this crisis. This is fine. This is fine. This is fair. This makes sense. But this is not what we were promised. We were promised Canada was

in for a fight. Get ready. We've got the right guy leading us, leading the charge. Elbows up, elbows up, elbows up. Now no tariffs. Okay. All right, fine. You know, stranger things have happened and the liberals getting elected on certain promises and doing the exact opposite. Remember the GST? Because I do. Oh boy, do I. Anyway, look, it's what I've said it before. And I'll say it again, this is not a judgment. This is an unadulterated, unftered unvarnished fact one of the reasons if not the reason the liberals are so successful electorally in this country is because they unlike others are quite literally willing to do and say things in an election campaign that they have no intention of following through with

in a once they get elected. In fact, they're willing to do the exact opposite once they get elected. For them, the means justify the end and the end is holding on to power. It doesn't matter that there's a new guy on top. If you're running as a liberal, you do subscribe to that and the proof is in the pudding. We elect them more often than we don't. And so why stop doing something if it works? Let's talk tough during an election campaign. And then when it comes time to governing, we'll do whatever we need to do.

As simple as that. Oh, we said we were gonna be elbows up. That was just for the slogan. That was just for the t-shirts. Anyway, there is a crisis brewing in Quebec in the riding of Terban because recounts are normal as a normal course of action in an election campaign, election after the results.

Sometimes you get the count wrong. So you go back and count again. Sometimes you forget to count certain ballots. So you count again. And after going back and forth, after it looked like the Bloc Québécois had won the riding of Terrebonne, a recount said that, no, no, in fact,

the liberals won by one vote, by one single vote. And then we learned that there was a woman who wanted to vote Bloc Québécois. She had received her ballot in the mail and all she had to do was mail it back. And it was sent back to her because the postal code for Elections Canada was wrong. Except she didn't write the return address. Elections Canada wrote the address. Elections Canada got their own damn address wrong and consequently her vote was not counted. This would have been the tying vote in the election. But Elections Canada had a problem with that. They say certified it anyway.

So here is Yves-Francois Blanchet, the leader of the Bloc Québécois, the person who would have had an extra person in his caucus taking issue and saying here's what he's going to do next. I do not give them about misinformation. The situation is quite clear. The judge has established that the Bloc Québécois would have lost the riding by one vote. The vote appeared in the hands of a citizen in a very clear fashion and in that situation the law requires the election to be done all over

again in the writing of Therbond. This is what we expect. But since, I don't know what is the name in English of election Canada, but since they cannot by themselves ask for the election to be repeated. We have to bring this situation in front of a judge in a court in order to get in order to do the election all over again. Just quick sidebar. I love the fact that he didn't know how to say election Canada in English. And he just right after next sentence, he says the word election and he says Canada, but I find that adorable. I want to play this next clip because the follow up by the reporter bears some commentary. Let's listen to this. Do you think that sets a precedent that you won't accept official election results from

elections Canada and you're not willing to listen to the vote of the people when your party doesn't win? I'm not getting into that I'm sorry not answer to rain on the spectacular parade but this is not my mindset there's a law it appears clear we have a case we go forward because we want this election to be held properly and that's it I mean I don't know who that journalist was, but what an irresponsible thing to say. What a tone deaf thing to say. This journalist is suggesting that the will of the people was expressed when we have demonstrable proof that Elections Canada, through its own incompetence, prevented not just one

person who we know of, but we know of five other instances in that writing where where that same error occurred. Now we don't know which direction those five votes would have gone. But if there are five that we know of, could there be 25 that we don't know of? I have no idea. But this one election in this one writing. Was flawed to the point that it should be done over. There should be a by-election.

And I am done with journalists suggesting that asking for this by-election because of elections Canada's incompetence is somehow a burgeoning sentiment of election denial. That's nonsense. That is irresponsible journalism. That's nonsense. That is irresponsible journalism. That is inflammatory. That is insulting to the people who had the democratic right to vote, express their desire for a vote in one way, shape or form.

And it was denied by the organization that should be empowering these people to vote. The exact op- they prevented them from voting. This person followed all the rules. Elections Canada screwed up. Elections Canada then turns around and says, oh, too late, we're certifying. So yes, take them to court. Demand a by-election.

You should get it. This is an affront to democracy. This is not a weakening of our democracy because we want a by-election. It is a strengthening of our democracy if one is allowed. It shows that there is recourse. When something goes wrong, you get to fix it. But are you telling me this woman in Terrebonne has to wait another four years before she's allowed to have her voice heard? She did everything to have her voice heard and to suggest that asking for a by-election is anything less than the fullest expression of democracy? To suggest that it is election denialism? That is the... you want to talk about importing American politics?

That journalist is suggesting that we should import American politics because you are creating the framework for it. You want people to deny elections in the future? Don't hold a by-election. That is a guarantee. Welcome back to the Ben Mulroney Show. And you know, we like to be helpful on this show. We want to help you understand the big stories of the day. We want to help you have a little fun.

We also want to help you with your own personal dilemmas. And that's why every Wednesday I convened the dilemma panel and we listen to your personal dilemmas. We try to solve them. We rarely do but we always have fun. If you'd like to send us your personal dilemma for us to take a look at send it to ask Ben at chorus and calm that's ask Ben at co R C-O-R-U-S-E-N-T.com. All right, divorce is never easy. I think that's how the ad goes. But there's a massive new study that tracked over 1 million children across 50 years.

This is, I mean, this is an in-depth study if I've ever seen one. And it shows the damage that divorce does to children in regarding adult outcomes. And so just a few key points for you. After divorce, kids face, according to this study, 60% higher risk of teen pregnancy, 40% higher risk of jail time,

45% higher risk of early death, nine to 13% lower adult wages, lower chance of going to college. Those are stark, stark numbers. So to discuss that and also, you know, possibly see if there's, if this gives us the full picture, we are joined now by Andrew Feldstein. He's the founder of Feldstein Family Law.

Andrew, welcome to the show and happy Friday. Happy Friday and thank you for having me. So yeah, these, these numbers, I take them at their word. It's a 50 year study following a million kids into adulthood. So I have to take them at their word. This paints a very sorry state of affairs for any child of divorce.

There's no doubt it does. And there's no doubt that divorce can be harmful on the children. That I think is in large part because so few people are able to manage the conflict after their separation in order to protect their children. And the children are feeling it in every which way possible. And I guess that's what the sort of the sticking point

for me that does, do they distinguish between amicable separation and the, you know, the war of the roses? I don't believe, I don't believe so, but amicable separation can be one thing that people can make a deal and move on, but it may be a very cold piece. And the problem is children pick up on their parents stress. Yeah. So when there's conflict over things as simple as exchange times,

they can see the frustration that the parents have. So there's a lot of little subtle things that kids have that may not seem like a high conflict case, but it's enough that causes discomfort for the children. Well, and I guess that's why I need to keep pushing forward with this and asking some, what may sound like dumb questions, but you know, if the issue is kids picking up on their parents' stress, if the stress is due to a dysfunctional marriage, then wouldn't these numbers bear out the same if kids were living in a dysfunctional home with a mother and the father? Yeah, sure, they stayed together, but it was a toxic relationship.

Well, I think there's different levels. I know that this study says that divorce doesn't help the kids any of the time. I'm gonna disagree with that because I think if you're in a violent relationship and the child is seeing one parent beat up the other, I can't imagine how divorce isn't better than the alternative.

Yeah, yeah. Of staying in that relationship. But if you take a lot of relationships, where are the problems that happen? Well, to begin with, just a really simple one is if there is conflict, parents can't parent the way they want to anymore. So sometimes when people are together, one person's more the disciplinarian, the other one's the softer parent, but the child still has a good positive relationship with both parents. Now, when they split up, one parent is the softer one and is rewarding the child for not following the rules of the one who may have more rules in the home.

Now the child may be encouraged to pick a side where they think things are better for them. Yeah. Not appreciating how that's going gonna impact the rest of their life. But the way I'm looking at it, I'm looking at it like a spectrum that, Andrew, I'm looking at like on one side, as you said, you've got terrible violent relationship where the best option for everyone is a break,

a break in the marriage. And then on the other side, you've got the most functional, loving family unit you've ever seen. But somewhere in the marriage. And then on the other side, you've got the most functional, loving, family unit you've ever seen. But somewhere in the middle, there seems to be this place where divorce just automatically, everything falls off a cliff for kids. Like almost like a valley on that spectrum. Well, and part of it too is you have to look at

where things are financially for people. Because if you look at the stats here that talks about lower adult wage is higher risk of early death. Well if you take one combined income for a family and this day and age it doesn't go as far as it used to but when you take that one combined income it may be enough to live in a decent home and have parents who have time to be at home. Now when they're split up each side is struggling just to pay the bills, which may mean both parents aren't around as much for the children. So there's

all sorts of little things that can cause an effect, causing parents not to be there the same way, causing children to have less attention from their parents, which means more time alone at a young age, more time out doing things they shouldn't be doing. There's all sorts of different places where the fallout may play out for different families. And, Andrew, is this, are these numbers universal across socioeconomics, across race, across culture? That's a loaded question that I don't think I could necessarily answer. I mean, I see the problems falling out during the conflict which sometimes can last years after the separation or come back from round two and round three and we see some horrible outcomes for children and then sometimes I have clients I'll bump into them, former clients, and they tell me how amazing their kids are going. But that's anecdotal and those are the

smaller numbers and you don't necessarily know how they would have done if the divorce never happened. The one certainty is that if children can be in a home where both parents can at least get along somewhat, they are far better off than divorce if they're in a non-violent home. They're gonna be far better off. That's every day of the week they're gonna be better off. But the problem is that's an easy thing to say and it's also an easy thing to put that on a parent who may be horribly depressed and hate their spouse and say, just suck it up. Yeah, I've got to wonder though, if there's a cutoff point, like, you know, if if once

a kid reaches 16 or 18 odd, does that mitigate the all the risks that are associated with, you know, how they're going to turn out after divorce? Well, one of the things I've had mental health professionals say to me is that there's a problem. You think once your kid gets off to university, now is a good time to separate. Well, picture being that 18 year old or 19 year old child

who's in their first year of university, and your parent tells you now they're splitting up, and now both parents are contacting you about the divorce. How is that going to impact on your grades and what may be the most academically important year of your life? Oh my goodness. I mean, this is, this is, when you saw these numbers, were you surprised? I was surprised it's that bad. It, it, it makes me feel horrible. I'm, I'm divorced and it makes me think of my own kids. Can I ask, if you don't want to talk about it, how is your relationship with your kids?

I have an excellent relationship with my son. Okay. All right. Well, I'm sorry. I hope I didn't cross a line there. Oh, that's fine. I understand that and I opened the door to that. So that's fine. Oh, you're a lawyer. Yeah, you know, I mean, I've seen enough law and order. You did law. Yeah.

Anyway, I do apologize. I certainly didn't want to bring anything up, but this is, you know, everyone knows somebody who's going through trouble. Everybody knows somebody who's at a crossroads. Somebody's at a crossroads. Do they do this or do they do that? And these numbers, these numbers could give a family pause. It can give people pause, but

I do see people who come into my office every day, and I see people who have held off for the sake of their children for years. And you can also see the depression that they're going through, the sadness in their lives. And really what everybody at the depression that they're going through, the sadness in their lives. And really what everybody at the end of the day is trying to do when they make the decision to end the marriage is get themselves to a better place. And they view it that if they're in a better place, they can do better for the kids. You know, one of the comments about this report is the instability. That's really true because now you have step-parents coming in. And one of the problems with step-parents is, is there there gonna be a cycle of multiple step parents

on each side? Right, yeah. You know, and sometimes in these relationships, the reason why step parent leaves is because the ex has made sure that the step parent isn't gonna stay there because they wind the children up. So would your advice be, look, if you're going to go to the root of divorce,

do it with your eyes open and recognize that there are negative knock on effects for your kids. So you've got to think of them first with everything that you do. You absolutely have to think about that. And if you're going to go through a divorce, it really is a last option. And what I mean by that is some people just aren't getting along very well or they're having a difficult time because every marriage, every relationship will have challenges.

And what makes the most sense is if you're just having challenges and things aren't as exciting as they used to be, then work on fixing it. Don't let it go away. Andrew Felstein, thank you so much for joining us. I hope you have a wonderful long weekend. Thank you, you too.

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